| Abstract [eng] |
The Master’s thesis explores how customer participation in cultural services determines customer loyalty to the cultural service provider. The aim of the thesis is to determine how customer loyalty depends on the level of customer participation in cultural services. In order to achieve the objective of the thesis, the theoretical part analyses the concepts of customer participation and loyalty. Customer participation is a behaviour that relates to the actions and resources that are provided to deliver and create a service. It is identified that customer activity is revealed by three levels of customer participation: low, medium, high. Each level of participation reflects a different service outcome, service delivery, customer contribution and the nature of participation in the service. The theoretical part of the thesis has shown that customer loyalty is a long-term attachment to a service provider, which is manifested by consistent purchase and a positive attitude towards the organisation, regardless of possible alternatives. An analysis of the levels of customer loyalty classification revealed that they can be divided into five levels: volatile customers, satisfied customers, habitual customers, customers who like the service provider, loyal customers. The theoretical part of the thesis shows that there is a link between customer participation and loyalty: the more actively customers participate in the service, the stronger the emotional bond they create, which leads to their greater loyalty. The methodology section justifies the research strategy and design, presents the research method, sample, instrument justification and reliability. The research adopts a deductive strategy, which starts the quantitative research process with a theoretical concept that leads to the development of a hypothetical model which formulates five research hypotheses. The method used for the research was a questionnaire survey of the clients of the Culture Centre cultural services. The survey was carried out with 453 respondents and a margin of error of 4.6 % with 95 % confidence. Statistical methods were used to analyse the data obtained from the questionnaire survey: the reliability of the survey instrument was checked, descriptive statistics were applied, dispersion, cluster and correlation analyses were performed. The empirical part of the thesis presents the data obtained through a questionnaire survey. It reveals that almost a third of the clients of the cultural services of the Culture Centre are classified as having a high level of customer participation. The levels of customer participation were found to be independent of the socio-demographic characteristics of the customers. Almost two thirds of the customers are mostly involved in cultural services at a medium level of customer participation: customers act as consultants, speakers, express their expectations of the services to the staff, provide feedback and comments on the quality of the services, share experiences and suggest improvements and new services. The lowest level of loyalty in Culture Centre cultural services has been found to be that of volatile customers, who do not feel attached to the service provider or the place they visit, and who are sensitive to the price of the service. The empirical study revealed that customer loyalty levels depend on socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, age and education. A Pearson correlation analysis was carried out on the basis of the hypothetical model to test the relationships between the variables. The results of the analysis confirmed four of the five hypotheses, which correctly define the relationships between the variables, and one hypothesis was modified according to the data obtained. The results of the study showed that the active participation of customers in the provision and development of cultural services in Cultural Centre increases customer loyalty. |
